BAD IDEA

03.19.13

Folk Singer Goes on Anti-Gay Rant

Michelle Shocked performs in March 2011 in Wisconsin. (Andy Manis/AP)

This is what happens when you encourage fans to use social media. At a concert Sunday night at Yoshi’s in San Francisco, folk-rock singer Michelle Shocked’s fans left after she went on a rant against gay marriage. The walkout was documented on social media. According to accounts from the concert, Shocked described the evils that would happen if California’s Proposition 8 is overturned by the courts. She then began to cite verses in both English and Spanish that condemn homosexuality. The operator of Yoshi’s interrupted Shocked’s performance, and told her that as a gay man he could not allow her concert to continue. Since then, fans have been declaring her career over—especially since this is a singer known for her leftist crusades in the past.